**Dawn**

Happy Birthday Dawn! I hope you had a nice time tonight, even though Brian wasn't home. I wish I could have come over and at least had cake! Damn school!
I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!!

The rest of our day...

You might want to read the post below first, so you know what is going on.... They are out of order, and I am not sure how to fix them.

After the boys woke from thier nap we had another fun filled couple of hours, until Dawn and Brian came and got Eli. It was such a fun day, and although exhausting, I really enjoyed seeing how well they interact with eachother now. Now that they are both able to communicate a little more, I think that they play together really well.

Vinny woke up crabby and was pouting because he didn't want me to play with Eli. He moped around like this for a good 10 minutes while I pushed Eli on the swing.

Poor Vinny :(

If this look doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will...

Weeeeee!!!

It didn't take Vinny long to snap out of it. One second he is laying the grass, the next he is laughing on the swing.

Dawn~ Eli LOVED the swing... You guys will have to come over a lot this summer.

Quiet time doing puzzles.

We did a little finger paiting.

They both look like they are taking their work of art so seriously.

The finished materpiece.
Lasagna for dinner. Yum!

We built a fort.

Nap Time!

It's been a busy day around here... Eli came to spend the day with us. They are both fast asleep, so I thought I would take a few minutes to post some pictures, because I am thinking I might be too exhausted tonight.

Snack time!

Eli at the play area at the mall.

The boys playing together.

I promised if they were good they could get ice cream!

Yum!

When we got home, Tony and Joe were in the backyard working on the quad. Vinny went over and climbed right on it. I had no idea he knew how.

Picnic Lunch.

"hi!"

Vinny helping Uncle Joe.

Eli loved Vinny's swing!

Vinny has gotten so good at the regular swing.

Since the guys took a break, Vinny had to step in and help.

Swinging again!

Uncle Joe was giving fun rides on the trike.

All pooped out!!!

I remember Monday... on Sunday

So I decided to do my I remember Monday today, since I have been such a slacker and keep forgetting. Plus I will be babysitting Eli all day tomorrow, so I don't think I will have much time to get done. With Valentine's being yesterday, and the anniversary of Tony and my first date, I thought I would write about that.

I remember 7 years ago... Tony and my first date. February 22, 2002. We went to the Spaghetti Factory and then went to Giggles comedy club in Seattle. I was so excited. A lot had gone on the few months before, and all of it was life changing for me. I was worth all the trouble and heart ache in the end, but who could of known that it would be the beginning of something so wonderful. Tony and I met in high school (long story) and didn't talk for several years, but got reacquainted in the end of 2001. I fell for him hard, and I fell fast. Even though we didn't have our first official date until that night, I was already head over heals with him.

I was so nervous. I knew that I really liked him, but had no idea how he felt about me. I had been surprised that he had actually wanted to go out on a date. Both of our situations were weird, and I came with baggage that wasn't easy to just toss aside. Even though we grew up in the same area, we were now in completely different worlds. I had no idea how the night would turn out. I remember at the comedy club looking to see if he was laughing at the same things that I laughed at, and trying so hard to figure him out. Those of you who know Tony know that he is the hardest person to read.

I had no idea that it would be the day that would change my life forever. Sitting there eating spaghetti, I never would have thought that this was the man that I would marry and eventually a child or more with.

Our first date must have gone well :) We moved in together in May and by November were looking for a house to buy. Fast forward to now, and we have been married for nearly 5 years, we have a wonderful son, and are working everyday towards our "happily ever after..."

Tony~ I can't believe that it has been 7 years since our first date. 7 years is a long time. I treasure every moment that we have spent together and look forward to 70 more years together. I love you so much! Thank you for being so great to me and for giving me this wonderful life. I can't imagine a day without you.

Vinny's Valentine's Party

Vinny had his Valentine's day party at school today. It was a lot of fun, and believe it or not, he was even pretty well behaved. After his Christmas party, I was a little nervous :
Mrs. Tanya passed out ribbon streamers and they all danced around and shook their streamers. Then they sat down for circle time, where they read some books and sang some songs. They sang Skidermink-a-dink-a-dink, and I love you. Plus some of thier other favorites. It was so precious during "I love you" when they got to the part that goes "and a kiss from me to you..." Vinny turned around and planted a big wet one on me... It melted my heart.
After circle time, it was time for treats. They had cupcakes and cookies and fruit and juice. After snack we walked over to Jaydn's classroom to visit Ms. Tami and Jaydn and Jessica.
Vinny came home with a basket full of valentine's from his friends.

Vinny

Aiden

Jaxon

Conner

Vinny playing with the streamers.

Vinny & Mariana

Being Goofy!

Cheese!

Circle Time

Snack Time

Vinny was really enjoying his treats.

Yum!

Playing with with his little Valentine, Jaydn.

Happy Valentine's Day!

March for Babies

It is coming up on the time of year for the March of Dimes, March for Babies walk. I am a very big supporter of the March of Dimes, and although Vinny was not born prematurely, I feel that every baby deserves a chance. This is my way of helping out. I am the captain of my work team and we are looking for additional walkers, as well as donations to help us reach our goal. The walk is April 25th in Everett. It is about 3.5 miles.
If you are interested in joining our team, go to my page and underneath the picture is a link that says "walk with me." Click on that and it will walk you through the set up.
If you can make a donation, please click on the link below and it will bring you to the page to do so. Remember, every penny helps!



Thank you for your support!

Tuesday

I know, I know... I haven't written in a few days... I forgot about I remember Monday (kind of ironic, huh?) and I was super busy this weekend, and between work and homework, I haven't had any time for fun.... Let's see... Exciting News! I was elected to the Board of Directors for Normanna Park, which is owned by the Sons of Norway. That is where our lot is up at the cabin. It doesn't mean a whole lot, except for now I will be able to help to keep the cabin the way it is. I really just wanted to be on the board to keep other people off. Is that selfish? Maybe. But worth it. I am not sure what position I will have until my meeting tomorrow night. I am very excited. This might sound silly, but it really makes me feel "grown up." Up at the Lake it is a big community of Norwegians, my step-family, (Karen's family) has been involved with it since the beginning. My grandpa was one of the people that started it. I have been going up there for years with my dad and Karen, and a few years ago, Tony and I bought a lot up there. We haven't used it much, but I always enjoyed going up there, and wanted Vinny to have that too. As the original owners are getting older, and a younger group have started moving in up there, it seems that they don't get what the community up there is all about. It is part of the fraternity (Sons of Norway) and about having a nice place to go with your families. The newcomers want to have big parties, and rent the place out, and just change the whole idea of it. This is not something that I want. I love that it is private. I love that people aren't just going in and out of there, and that I can feel safe up there, and feel that Vinny is safe up there. This is why I wanted to be on the board. To preserve what we have up there and to not have things change... I know that I can't make the decisions, but I can help, and let my voice be heard....

Enough about that...

Things are great with Vinny. He is finally back to himself and feeling better. I was talking with daycare yesterday and they said that they think that his vocabulary has doubled over the last week or so. He all of a sudden is speaking in phrases. He was never much of a talker at daycare, so this doesn't suprise me too much. I think he has grown again too. I was shocked when they had told me that he grew over 5 inches between his 18month and 2 year appointments, but since that time, I think he grew again. All of a sudden we noticed that he was taller than his friend Conner, who has always been a lot taller than Vinny.

This week's plans:
Tonight - I have homework to do. T
omorrow - I am going to a board meeting. Tony and Vinny are going to the Silvertips game. This is going to be the first time Tony hasn't taken him to a game by himself, so it should be interesting to see how it goes.
Thursday- More homework (oh, yay!) and then to the library and then spend the evening at home.
Friday- Vinny has his Valentine's day party at school. I am going to go to it. We got him some Thomas the Tank Engine valentines to give out to his friends. Then we start our 3 day weekend!!! Friday night we have another hockey game.
Saturday - Valentine's Day. We will probably just work around the house and in the yard. We are trying to get the backyard finished. We aren't doing anything romantic, just another hockey game :)
Sunday - Not sure yet.
Monday - Eli is coming over to spend the day with us. Dawn is going to go and get pampered (she really deserves it) and Eli is going to come and spend the day with us. I am not sure what we are going to do yet, but we'll find something fun.

Open Wide!!!

Vinny went to his first dentist appointment today. He did very well... much better than I expected. The dentist just showed him around, and took a look at his teeth. He showed me how to brush his teeth and told me about different things to watch for. He didn't get a cleaning or anything yet.

He said that Vinny's teeth look good. He doesn't have any cavities and it looks like his 2 year molars are going to break through soon.

He goes back again in 6 months for another check up.

Great Job Vinny!!!

I remember Monday...

Being that Vinny has gotten to be so active lately, and hard to keep a handle on, I thought that I would talk about the first roadtrip that we took as a family.
Vinny was only about 6 months old. We were so nervous because we were going to drive down to California to go to the red woods. Neither Tony or I had been there before. I can't remember how many days it took us, but we went all over. We drove through Oregon and then went and stayed down in California. We drove through the red woods and up the Oregon coast. We stayed in Florence and then came back home. Vinny was perfect. We were so worried about having a crying baby the whole time. He hardly cried at all.
It was such a wonderful trip. I look back now and see how scared we were and how worried I was about taking him so far away from home. But it was so easy compared to what I expected. Some milk, some diapers and wipes, some clothes and off we went.
I can't imagine a road trip now... The list of things we would need would be huge! Food, drinks, trucks, books, diapers, wipes, crayons, Mickey, extra shoes, snacks... the list would go on and on.... And sitting in the car for hours??? Vinny would go nuts, which in return, would make Tony and I nuts. Not something that I want to do anytime soon.
I never realized that it would be harder to have a toddler than it was to have an infant.

29.... and counting....

Happy Birthday, Tony!!!